Social Proof: How To Increase Social Presence

Social Proof: 5 Types Of Social Proof

Why is social proof important? Many studies and reports I have read indicate that consumers are heavily influenced by other people’s experience. It is latest battleground in the battle for attention. I am of the opinion that social proof reinforces a brand’s advertising. Positive reviews and rating validates your brand.

In a 2011 guest blog post in TechCrunch.com by a partner at venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Aileen Lee, defines 5 types of Social Proof. She suggests that building and highlighting your social proof is the best way to generate buzz if you are a digital start-up. She called it “Building the foundation for massively scalable word-of-mouth”.

Five Types of Social Proof

Expert Social Proof
- Approval from a credible expert or industrial publication can increase influence.

Celebrity Social Proof
- Endorsements from Sports celebrities and Hollywood celebrities can dramatically increase the effective of your campaigns.

User Social Proof
- Approval from current users of the product or service, customer testimonials, case studies, and user reviews.

Wisdom of the crowds social proof
- An example would be “Over 1 billion sold”. An implied acceptance of the brand by masses of people.

Wisdom of your friends social proof
– Learning from friends thorough social websites which has the potential to go viral.

Social media has always played a part in SEO, it is accepted that Twitter retweets, Facebook shares and Google + are part of the equation. Now it seems that more weight is given to social proof. So much for those who proclaim “SEO is Dead!”. How is SEO dead when social proof has always been a component of SEO since the Web 2.0 took off?

Social Proof: Help! Nobody Is Watching My YouTube Videos

Since the Penguin update, services selling Facebook likes have really taken off. Now, some people will say that buying Facebook likes and followers falls into black hat SEO. Maybe. But there is not much difference if you buy Facebook ads. Buying Facebook ads means getting likes if you are driving traffic to your Facebook page.

These services have been expanded to include YouTube views and likes, Pinterest followers, SoundCloud followers and ReverbNation plays. SoundCloud and ReverbNation is targeted at artists and performers, people go to listen to your songs.

What is interesting is buying YouTube views. Everyone knows YouTube and what it can do for you if you have an incredible number of views. Many talented musicians, such as one of my favorite, Zee Avi were discovered on youtube.

While buying YouTube views have the potential to explode your marketing, I would say not to bother unless you have something worth sharing. If you do, then buying views is something to be considered. Black hat or grey hat? The choice is for you to make.

The incredible thing about YouTube is that it works for many niches, whether you are an internet marketer or someone who is passionate about your subject. It also works in the offline niches and for local business owners. When you need to reach your market, YouTube is a very good marketing channel.

Social Proof: Buying YouTube Views

Buying YouTube views can be a quick way of building your fan base and get your video to rank well. YouTube results are shown inside YouTube search and on Google search. When your videos are seen by real people and not robots, and are viewed for at least 30 seconds, this can look very promising.

The only way to really know is to try this service. The danger is in getting your account banned and while the service says it has never happened, the reality is that it can happen. You can always use one of your smaller accounts test this and not use your main account. Is there a risk involved? Likely, but 5,000 views for $10 is quite a compelling offer.

Buying likes and views happen all the time, even in the corporate world. I do not see much difference between this and a social seeding campaign. In both cases, people are being paid or are given incentives to take action on your behalf, and corporations do this all the time.

The purpose of this post is to tell you that services where you can buy YouTube views are available. I am not encouraging you to do so. Personally, I will usually try something at least once. If we call ourselves internet marketers, we should at least know how the game is played.